Preparation

While the chess event is one of the least challenging fights in the instance, there are a few precautions you should take before you start the event to make it go smoothly.

Ensure that people know which units to control. You'll want to have a few people controlling the front row units to allow the rear ones to pass.

The pieces are divided into two teams. On the right side is the Alliance team, and on the left is the Horde team. The abilities and pieces available to each side are identical in ability. If you are an Alliance player, your raid group will control the Alliance side and Horde raids will control the Horde pieces.

The game is initiated by talking to the king of your relevant side when you are ready to begin, and it should be ensured all members are ready to play before anyone does this.

Before the fight starts, only the king will talk to you. Once the fight is started by controlling the king, you may talk to any other unit to take control of it.

Piece Breakdown

Orc Grunt/Human Footman

Low health/Low damage/Weak Specials

Movement: Any adjacent single square.

This is the lowest value unit and is expendable. Great for clearing out opposing "pawns".

Suggestion - Use only special 1 as the damage absorption is minor compared to the damage units on the board do.

Specials

Special #1

1000 damage to unit directly in front of piece.

Special #2

500 Physical damage absorbed for 5 seconds on self.

Summoned Demon/Water Elemental

Low Health, Medium Damage, Strong Specials.

Movement - Any adjacent single square.

High damage but low health makes this situational but useful.

Suggestion - Use special 1 whenever any unit is on any of the 8 adjacent squares to you, the more units you can hit the more efficient this unit is.

Specials

Special #1

3000 damage to any adjacent unit.

Special #2

50% damage reduction for 5 seconds on self.

Orc Wolf/Human Charger

Medium Health/Low Damage/Situational Specials

Movement: 2 squares in any direction or 2 squares in 1 direction + 1 to the side.

While it has utility, its low damage makes it fairly expendable.

Notes - Offensively weak, the speed of this unit can be utilized to keep high damage enemies suppressed.

Specials

Special #1

3000 damage to the unit directly in front.

Special #2

-50% damage to all adjacent units for 10 secs.

Orc Necrolite/Human Cleric

Low Health/Low Damage/Support Specials

Movement: Any adjacent single square.

The sheer usefulness of the healer makes this a valuable unit.

The heal is very potent on these and can be used to turn the tide of the battle! Use wisely and concentrate mostly on your king.

Specials

Special #1

Heals any targeted unit for 6000 (Range - around 1/2 the board's length.)

Special #2

Hit all units within the 3 squares in front of the unit for 2000. The target of this attack is 3 in a straight line not the adjacent 3.

Orc Warlock/Human Conjurer

Medium Health/High damage/Strong Specials

Movement: Straight - 3 or Diagonal - 2.

Very good damage, high movement value. Keep this one alive.

The single target ability has a low cooldown on this unit and can be used to take a target down quickly. While the AoE has a longer cooldown, it's devastating on a group of enemies when targeted on the center unit. High movement speed and very high damage makes this the most dangerous unit on the board.

Specials

Special #1

4000 damage on targeted enemy.

Range - Straight - 4 or Diagonal - 3.

Special #2

6000 damage on target + all adjacent units.

Range - straight - 4 or Diagonal - 3.

Warchief Blackhand/King Llane

High Health/High Damage/Powerful + Utility Specials

Movement: Any adjacent single square.

Value : 1st - Without this unit the game is over, keep alive at all costs.
Notes: This guy must be kept alive at all costs. His slow speed means he can be chased quite easily however he has very high health. His attacks are quite potent and special 2 utilised near a bunch of friendlies can help take the enemy team down much quicker.

Specials

Special #1

Hit the 3 units adjacently in front of the unit for 4000.

Special #2

All adjacent friendlies gain 50% damage for 10s. This ability does not affect the king piece itself.

The Fight

Stage 1: Get raid members to control the 4 middle units on the front row and move them forward either 1 or 2 squares. This opens up space to the units behind whilst leaving space to retreat later. Get the remaining people to control at least the leaders, warlock/conjurer and healers.

Stage 2: Concentrate on the enemy healers. The healers have low health and a concentrated charge on each one in turn should cause them to drop rather fast. Assuming you've cleared space, your team's offensive units (Wolves/Chargers,.Elementals/Demons or any grunts) should move forward swiftly. The Warlock/Conjurer should move forward and nuke the enemy healers with either special whilst maintaining a safe range. Using the Wolves/Chargers during this time is a good way to supress the large crowds of enemies. Move the king forward to utilize his damage buff but do not send him deep into enemy lines. Your Necrolites/Clerics should remain near the back and heal any damaged units, focussing on the special units before the grunts/footmen.

Stage 3: Once the healers are down, the main focus is the enemy king. All other units should be ignored. Without healers he will go down fast. Bring all units close enough to use their special abilities, priority being given to non grunts/footmen. Keep your leader slightly back and use his buff with the healers further behind him. With their leader trapped and no-one to heal him he will go down very fast.

Fight Basics

So long as you have a basic understanding of what each unit does, it's fairly easy to win this event. The event mobs do react a little differently every fight but the overall strategy doesn't change.

In order to release control of a piece right click the buff called 'Controlling piece'. You will get a debuff lasting 20 seconds preventing you from controlling a new piece until it wears off and you will be "warped" back to your "entry point". This entry point is the stairwell facing down on the board.

As long as the fight is taken in the above stages, it should be rather simple. Remember, don't be afraid to lose a unit, as long as your king and healers are healthy, you should be fine.

Once the opposing king is dead, the chest will spawn next to Medivh's shade. Release your piece and head back

Notes

For more in depth information, the following site has additional information about this event: Bosskillers